Labor group denounces arrests of activists on Labor Day
Published May 1, 2020 12:00 am
By Chito Chavez
At least 65 individuals comprising 11 softdrink factory workers in Laguna, 42 protesters in Iloilo City, 10 relief volunteers in Marikina City, and two activists in Montalban, Rizal were arrested by the police as the world celebrated International Labor Day on May 1.
Kilusang Mayo Una (WIKIPEDIA / MANILA BULLETIN)
Progressive labor group Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) reiterated its call for the administration to junk the "militarization" of the lockdown, and appealed to state forces to put the health sector and medical professionals “front and center to scientifically combat the COVID-19 pandemic.”
“May 1 has always been a day for the labor sector to engage in mass demonstrations to popularize their demands for regularization, unionization, a living wage, and other basic labor rights.
"This year, in keeping with the limitations imposed by the pandemic, protesters have focused on online rallies, social media posts and hashtags, and small, brief actions in workplaces or in the streets wherein all participants maintain social distancing and wear masks,” KMU National Chairperson Elmer Labog said.
Labog claimed that the "violent, illegal, and unjust actions of the police and the military" on May 1 proved that the administration pledge to “reaffirm the government’s commitment to uphold the dignity of labor” is fake news.
Labog said the government should end contractualization and other forms of abuse in the workplace.
He noted that workers are forced to go to the streets, and on this Labor Day reiterated their sentiments, only to be arrested by the police for "imagined violations," among them:
In Iloilo City, 42 were arrested in Iloilo City as protesters paid tribute to activist Jory Porquia, Bayan Muna city coordinator, who was killed in his home at 5 a.m. on Thursday (April 30);
10 relief workers of a CURE COVID chapter were "illegally detained" by police in Marikina City as they distributed food packs in the city as part of their Labor Day activities;
2 activists were arrested in Montalban, Rizal;
11 factory workers were arrested in Laguna on "bogus charges" of being members of the New People’s Army (NPA) despite them being full-time employees. The police pressured the workers to admit their NPA membership while keeping them in holding cells at the Philippine National Police (PNP) camp in Sta. Rosa City, the KMU said.
“The police have also tried systematically to intimidate the members and leaders of people’s rights groups. On the eve of May 1, police vehicles were spotted on surveillance outside the KMU headquarters in Quezon City. Local organizations have also reported police and military deployment across urban poor and workers’ communities in Metro Manila,” Labog said.
Kilusang Mayo Una (WIKIPEDIA / MANILA BULLETIN)
Progressive labor group Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) reiterated its call for the administration to junk the "militarization" of the lockdown, and appealed to state forces to put the health sector and medical professionals “front and center to scientifically combat the COVID-19 pandemic.”
“May 1 has always been a day for the labor sector to engage in mass demonstrations to popularize their demands for regularization, unionization, a living wage, and other basic labor rights.
"This year, in keeping with the limitations imposed by the pandemic, protesters have focused on online rallies, social media posts and hashtags, and small, brief actions in workplaces or in the streets wherein all participants maintain social distancing and wear masks,” KMU National Chairperson Elmer Labog said.
Labog claimed that the "violent, illegal, and unjust actions of the police and the military" on May 1 proved that the administration pledge to “reaffirm the government’s commitment to uphold the dignity of labor” is fake news.
Labog said the government should end contractualization and other forms of abuse in the workplace.
He noted that workers are forced to go to the streets, and on this Labor Day reiterated their sentiments, only to be arrested by the police for "imagined violations," among them:
In Iloilo City, 42 were arrested in Iloilo City as protesters paid tribute to activist Jory Porquia, Bayan Muna city coordinator, who was killed in his home at 5 a.m. on Thursday (April 30);
10 relief workers of a CURE COVID chapter were "illegally detained" by police in Marikina City as they distributed food packs in the city as part of their Labor Day activities;
2 activists were arrested in Montalban, Rizal;
11 factory workers were arrested in Laguna on "bogus charges" of being members of the New People’s Army (NPA) despite them being full-time employees. The police pressured the workers to admit their NPA membership while keeping them in holding cells at the Philippine National Police (PNP) camp in Sta. Rosa City, the KMU said.
“The police have also tried systematically to intimidate the members and leaders of people’s rights groups. On the eve of May 1, police vehicles were spotted on surveillance outside the KMU headquarters in Quezon City. Local organizations have also reported police and military deployment across urban poor and workers’ communities in Metro Manila,” Labog said.